Lenovo has been generating some noise in the enterprise sector with their famous ThinkPad line (formally an IBM brand), but Dell is a bit tired of going unnoticed. The company’s last generation of Latitude business notebooks made us questions who exactly was in control of the horrendous design, but with this latest series refresh – we are impressed.

This week the company unveiled their new Latitude 7000 series, 5000 series, and 3000 series machines. The most exciting of the three series is the 7000, with its new Ultrabook build that dell says “builds on the XPS line and Latitude 6430u”.

The Latitude 7000 comes in both 12.5 inch and 14 inch form factors. The unit starts at $1,049 and can be configured all the way up to an Intel Core i3 CPU – wait, that’s the least powerful Intel Core series chip. Well, at least Dell got the design right.

One of our favorite parts of the new 7000 series is that it can be purchased alongside an optional wireless docking station. The dock can establish a wireless connection with your mouse, monitor, keyboard, and other peripherals simply by placing the notebook next to it.

The 5000 and 3000 series pack a bit more punch than the 700 series, but you will have to forgo the light and thin Ultrabook form factor.

All three models are constructed from brushed aluminum, magnesium alloy, and woven carbon fiber. Each model also includes a spill resistant keyboard and optional Corning Gorilla Glass touch display.

For those of you looking for power in a business Ultrabook, stick with ThinkPad X1 Carbon or ThinkPad T430u, but at least Dell is getting their design on track.

If you really want to get your hands on the new Latitude series - the 3000 and 7000 units will be available September 15th, while the 5000 series will be available this October.

Yes you read that right, the thinness of the aluminum is just for looks not for structure, at least the ones I've handled in stores. Same with the thin plastic of say the Samsung laptops. I'm looking for more.

How many times do you plan on dropping a laptop for aluminum to not be sufficient? Polycarbonate or not, plastic feels cheap. Personally I'd like to see some anodized finishes like the black iPad mini on laptops, or colored (still anodized? Not sure of the terminology) like the blue HTC one leaks we've seen.

This is what grabbed my attention! I've wanted a ultrabook for a while but refuse to give up my e dock which works flawlessly (which I've heard is not the case with the wireless docks). Now if they support 16GB I'm buying!

I've owned a Latitude D820, a Vaio VGN-FW250J, and my current i5 Acer. Yes, the Acer is newer technology, but it blows the Dell and Sony away in build quality. Business line or other, I will never ever own another dell. When a premium $2k plus machine can't display a 1080p video natively, hell, might as well buy a Mac. This particular lineup is insulting. Here, the premium model sports the awe inspiring Core i3 processor of yesteryears bad dreams. Can't imagine why I read today that they are laying people off in Texas.

Its my opinion based primarily on experience, that buying a Dell any time in the last decade is synonymous with buying a Mercury. You buy it because it used to be good. Nostalgia. Dad swears by them. It's Dell, its gotta be good! Well, Mercury is nothing but a memory, and based on the anticipated pricing of a well equipped model shown through the link you've posted, Dell is not heading in a different direction. People who are not buying the XPS aka Alienware models are not looking to spend $2K+ for a machine which they could easily exceed in specs for half the price by buying a different brand. This isn't 2008 and Dell would be wise to recognize it.

Surprised by the dislike for Dell, Dell has always been my first choice. Typically love their hardware and design. Lenovo on the other hand I've never liked. The i3 move isn't too great though. To each their own...

Their level of design won't make up for the statement "up to the i3." You're still goign to have something costing you $1,000 with a CPU comparable to the $450 laptop my brother-in-law got 2 years ago (can't remember if it was Sandy or Ivy Bridge).

They are awsome, I've purchased several along with docks, 24" HD monitors, wireless mice/keyboards, external DVD drives for employees that are more mobile than stationary. I don't know why people are bashing windows 8, but since I've implemented the unit mentioned above along with the Optiplex 9010AIO touch desktops within the organization, my support tickets are non-existent compared to windows 7 which I loved. The fact is that the start screen is simply a file cabinet with the item you use most, place there in categories. Also if you pin the items you use the most on the taskbar in desktop mode, it's no different the using the dock on a mac!! Windows 8 is fast and does work well with touch or the mouse & keyboard.

Fortunately, the hinges and panels on Dell machines aren't notorious for going out. Oh, wait.... Dell died when they shipped everything including their support and the kitchen sink to India. They are on life support and the price of this inferior POJ is a testament to that. Naturally I'm not biased or anything.

I somewhat agree with you statement, however, I would like MS to do whatever it takes to get Visio along with Sony to produce I windows phone, because their designs along with Nokia and HTC would be the only manufactures they need to make people pay attention to WP8, whether sale people recommend them or not because average consumers are visual creatures.

Yea, I recently had the pleasure of taking a Dell latitude with me on a business trip. All it did was manage to convince me never to buy one. Crappy battery life (good thing I took spares), horrendously slow despite the specs, and the design was also quite lame. Then again, our IT department keeps getting mostly these for some reason.
Now that my older laptops all died I am looking to get a new one, but the current line of w8 laptops/ultrabooks just seems to look disappointing. I kind of wish MS pulled a surface on them as well. Otherwise I might end up with the fruit logo ones, even though I'd prefer to stay within the MS ecosystem.

the name itself is terrible... when ever i heard Dell LATITUDE i remembered laptops of the 90s, and of course the same old dull colour (looks like an old army tank anyway). I loved dell but not their Latitude series of laptop, dont know why ... inspiron, xps, alienware (in india its them) nice and wonderful but not latitude.

I'm a bit confused since Dell already has 5000 series laptops. Anyway I've been waiting for a good 15.6" ultrabook. I almoust bought a samsung but couldn't stand the glossy screen. I wonder if the latitudes will have a glossy touchscreen? If so, I'll just get it without.